Thread: Bowl gouge from rifle barrel

Hi Paul,

There is no crime or reason the be ashamed or even embarrassed, of having limited financial capabilities, anyone living on any pension will understand that.

Now, being creative, good with tools, having good hands and having imagination (improvisation), is not beating the system, is being smart. Money or people with money has nothing to do with it but, not having it tough, does encourage people to get their creativity fluids running, not much of a bloody choice, huh?

Now, if I'm looking for a used rifle barrel, where would I go to find one?
1- Gunsmith's, obviously!
2- Who uses plenty of barrels?, hunters?, no!, target/competition shooters do. Who are they and where do you find them?, shooting Clubs.
3- At the shooting clubs, who do you find?, the shooters and the gunsmiths (most of them shooters themselves).
4- Who to ask for a used barrel? both!, most shooters keep their old barrels, some other leave them at the smithy shop.

In relation to smooth/cut the rifling at the end of the barrel (muzzle), a couple of inches in, max., the best way is to use a drill just a "nudge" over the overall int. diameter, and then polish it with a stone on a drill if you have the correct size, otherwise, the cheapest and easiest Way to polish/cut after the riffling is removed, is to use a round wood stick (Chinese chop-sticks will do) by splitting one end of the stick with a knife about a couple of inches in, then cut a piece of sand paper (wet&dry preferentially) 1' or so wide and with enough length to be rolled around the stick until is close enough with the hole diameter. Start rolling the paper by "sliding" one end of the sand paper into the split stick. Obviously, some consideration has to be given to the direction the drill turns, so that the sand paper has the "cutting" surface facing out. With the aid of a container with some water, keep inserting the stick end with the sandpaper on it, into the water container and back or forward motion on the barrel end. When the sandpaper start getting lose, un-rap the paper on the stick but do not remove it completely, use another piece of sandpaper or similar (shim) same width but shorter, put if against the stick and start rolling it again, this time with the 2 layers of sandpaper rolling together, making the diameter of the "cutting head" increase to a tight fit and go again, and again...,in & out, in & out! got it?

Cheers
RBTCO

hey guys what about a piece of high speed steel round .and just cut the flute with a chainsaw sharpener wheel in an angle grinder? this can be purchased easily . good cutting bob

There is no doubt that 4140 and 4130 chrome moly steel rifle barrels are a fine source of high grade, hi-carbon, tool steel. I should have saved all the shot-out barrels that I replaced over the years (but back then I was not into woodturning). Now I will be on the lookout for several .22, .30 and .50 cal. Barrels (the heavier the better!!), but not to re-machine into gouges. After all the labor time is expended, you will still have a nice carbon steel gouge. I would prefer to save up for a quality HSS gouge, and use the barrels as the base for an Oland deep boring tool. The centered hole is already there, and just needs to be drilled out to fit a HSS cutting bit (round and/or square), and then drill and tap for a grub screw to hold the bit in place. Plus, maybe drill a hole at an angle for side cutting, and place the cross point under the grub screw hole so you only need one (actually, drill and tap all the way thru, and have two grub screws, or a backup).
Here is a fine article on how to build your own Oland boring tool >> http://www.aroundthewoods.com/oland.shtml <<.
In the past I have used long, 3/4", socket extensions found cheap a flea markets, but I would not mind using a heavy rifle barrel instead.
Just my 2¢ worth.
Cheers,

There is no doubt that 4140 and 4130 chrome moly steel rifle

generally these two are tough stable High tensile steels and not given to, too much hardening.So I not sure how good they would be for gouges

. Now I will be on the lookout for several .50 cal. Barrels (the heavier the better!!), but not to re-machine into gouges.

When this topic came up I immediately thought of . 50 cal.But they are a bit hard to come by down under.

Originally Posted by Gil Jones

(actually, drill and tap all the way thru, and have two grub screws, or a backup). Just my 2¢ worth.
Cheers,

When you tap all the way through, do so VERY gently. Resistance in the far wall, with the tap captured in the near wall, can present enough flex in the cylinder to shatter the tap. DAMHIKT. Re-tapping from the far wall may be a better procedure.

My $3.50 worth.

Joe

I started digging around on the internet as no free rifle barrels have fallen from the sky. I found a metal supplier that sells small quantities of tool steel in the form of drill rod, rounds, flats, and plate. By looking around in the site specifications can be found.

Three feet of 1/2 inch O-1 drill rod was less than I expected to pay for a rifle barrel. For those of us old geezers with more time than money and a sense of adventure, this might be a solution.

See: https://www.speedymetals.com/c-8287-tool-steel.aspx

Also found specs for 4140 barrel steel at:

http://www.metalsuppliersonline.com/.../metals/25.asp

Further poking revealed that concrete rebar is made of A615 steel, a relatively high carbon steel. I have been cutting rebar for years by notching and breaking, which gave me the idea that it was pretty hard. I have made punches and chisels of rebar that work pretty well.

For those of us who like to see what crazy grain is in tree stumps, a 3 foot hunk of 3/4 inch rebar ground smooth where it hits the tool rest and a concave grind on top with some relief on the front would gouge off the bark, dirt, pebbles, etc around the shortened roots of a stump. When it gets dull give it another grind and keep going.

Sure would save your $100 bowl gouge.

I would hope there are metal suppliers in Austrailia with comparable prices as the one above. Shipping from the US would not be a bargain.

Paul

I guess I'll postpone the search for rifle or shotgun barrels. I have about 3000 lbs. of rebar from a contractor's garage sale. ~$50 IIRC.

Joe

Wonder which building is going to fall down?

Originally Posted by

Wonder which building is going to fall down?

No, no, . They were mistakes, or otherwise surplus.

Joe